A week later in early June, it flitted through the mythical Temple Gates, across the faces of those passing through on their way to tuition.

Some of whom showed great determination.

Some of whom looked tired from a long journey (from as far away as JB).

Some of whom carried the confidence of a an entire cohort who had just failed their mids.

Some of whom looked severely weak and malnourished in terms of their subject foundation.

Some of whom had a look of hatred, as if some Chemist or Physicist or Mathematician (*gulp*) had just murdered a member of his family, especially those who were still seething from mid-year exam papers which contained topics that were not yet taught nor revised in school.

And that was all it could remember.

The following weeks passed in several flashes as it flitted from room to room, class to class.

It was … umm … intense. And there was (literally) pressure on certain days. Heh.

There were the notes. There were the school papers. There were the intensive worksheets.

Some days were birthdays.

For the rest of each day though, there was plenty of knowledge sharing. There was plenty of practice. And there was plenty of painstaking explanation/clarification/review/interaction that went on even after official hours to ensure that no one was left behind.

And should energy levels gave the slightest hint of dropping (no thanks to the World Cup), there was always the sweet aroma of 炖鸡汤 aka herbal chicken soup and other foodie goodies to perk spirits up.

And those were all it could remember.

And then came July, when it was on hand to witness the …

… connections that had been made.

… friendships that had been made.

… Mathematical and Scientific love affairs that had been rekindled and confidence (some of which were deflated since PSLE) that have, in some ways, been restored.

Most importantly, there was enlightenment, and that the “graffiti” from many vandalised mid-year report books had mostly been scrubbed clean.

And what it remembered the most this time were the joy of those who understood and passed for the first time … and the smiles that were eventually lit from the vast, vast amount of heartware and 心思 that went into this June Holiday Intensive joss sticks sessons.

And so, as the resident moth at The Temple approaches the end of the latest cycle of its short life (an adult moth typically lives for only a few weeks), the flashbacks of its brief past give way to premonitions of what is to come … just like how it saw Andy’s dad winning bet coming

It sees a short Semester II. It sees end-of-year exams on the horizon. It sees endless upon endless prelims and mock exams for those taking O Levels.

It sees CCA performances and competition occupying students’ times right up till the very end.

It sees the weary and the weak-minded succumb to earthly temptations during the September break.

It sees glimpses of school teachers struggle to finish the topics in time. It sees frantic glimpses of topics rushed and covered in a short time.

It sees countless compulsory night study sessions in schools.

It sees many suffer short-term memory loss, suddenly forgetting how to answer questions that they previously breezed through.

It sees utter chaos and a BIG MAD RUSH for many at the end.

And then, it sees horrid visions of culling, of those being forced to dropped their subjects when they failed to make the grade.

With that, the moth settles on a remote corner of The Temple, closes its wings and prepares for its inevitable reincarnation – its final, fading vision being that of lines upon lines of those facing up to their past academic deeds on Judgment Day …

… and with its final breath, wishes that more will help banish these dark visions from its next life by conquering the most common ills in Semester II (as of 2014) through:

being well in the process of attaining consistency in your work i.e. no more excuses like these and these

being well in the process of clearing all your work/doubts/weaknesses in advance i.e. NOW

About Miss Loi

Miss Loi is a full-time private tutor in Singapore specializing in O-Level Maths tuition. Her life's calling is to eradicate the terrifying LMBFH Syndrome off the face of this planet. For over 27 years she has been a savior to countless students ... [read more]